Newcastle Building Society continues to buck the national trend of bank branch closures, as it celebrated the official launch of its new Pickering branch.
Pickering is the 32nd branch in our network covering the North East, Cumbria, and North Yorkshire and helps secure the future of essential financial services in town.
Cutting the ribbon alongside our Chief Executive, Andrew Haigh, we were joined by Pickering Town Mayor, Councillor Emma Daplyn, and Iain Clarke from Ryedale Community Foodbank.
As well as our full range of face-to-face services, information, and advice, the new branch is also home to a OneBanx multi-bank kiosk, which enables personal and small businesses to withdraw and deposit cash into their own bank account, regardless of whether they’re a customer of ours or not.
Doors to our Pickering branch opened a few months before the last bank in town closes in 2025, citing falling customer usage and an increased preference in digital services. In contrast, our commitment to face to face financial services means we’re seeing branch savings balances grow at a rate of more than double the market average.
Andrew Haigh our Chief Executive Officer
"As we’ve seen in Pickering, while banks continue to pull down the shutters, we’re committed to building a long term presence in our communities, and that’s why we’re growing our footprint and investing in our high streets and towns. We believe high streets are always better with branches, not only for the greater choice they offer our members in how they manage their finances, but also for the positive impact they have on their local communities. Our branch team in Pickering are already well connected with the community, and can’t wait to start to grow and develop long term relationships in the town."
Andrew continues: “As a mutual, we’ll continue to focus on being available in the way our members and communities need us. It’s encouraging to see a growth in branch savings balances and customer numbers as more people recognise the value of financial services that are present on their high streets.”
Download the press release (PDF, 161kB).